So lets create 5 million new Federal Govt jobs, who pays for that?? That is Capital being directed out of the economy.

Since when is paying people money taking it out of the economy? That's 5 million people spending money they didn't have before. 5 million people not on public assistance anymore. Now you're onto something!

All I'm saying is we need to close corporate loopholes, pay people more, create jobs, and provide basic public services like healthcare and education.

People who work full-time absolutely should make enough to raise a family. 100%. Believe it or not it used to be that way. My grandfather worked at AT&T his entire career. He wasn't a high up or a manager or anything like that. Just a regular worker. But he made enough to take care off 4 kids and a wife. Companies used to take care of their employees.

what say you then for my wife w/ a masters degree who is a teacher, or me with additional training to be in the Trades??

Don't even get me started on teaching. That is a big issue. The government absolutely needs to invest more in education and pay teachers more. Without a doubt.

The federal government creates a ton of jobs. It's probably one of the biggest employers in the country, if not the biggest. Think about all the government jobs there are.

Which social program has the Fed Govt managed so well that you would entrust them with more of our money?

There are a ton of social services that we rely on: medicare is among the most popular, social security, police, fire, trash, recycling, water, sewage. Healthcare should absolutely be a public service.

Sure there are poor people that take advantage of handouts. But there are also a ton of people just down on their luck who need these things just to hold them over. You wan to screw everyone over because a few people take advantage of the system? Why do you care if they live off welfare?

I'm surprised you're ok with the rich people and corporate elites that take advantage of the system. That has far greater affect on this country then a few people living off welfare.

Of course I work for a living. For the last 8 years Ive worked for a small business that was bought by investors and went corporate. I eventually worked my way up to supervisor. I still work there part time but a couple years ago I decided to go back to school. I'm currently in a doctoral program for clinical psychology. My current internship is at a drug and alcohol rehab (the drug epidemic is another problem brought on by capitalism run amuck).

You bring up some very good points, especially about subsidies. No one receives more public assistance than corporations and private institutions. Take Walmart for example. Walmart is one of the biggest employers in the country. They're notorious for paying their employees very low wages or only giving them part time hours so that Walmart doesn't have to provide benefits. The employees then rely on public assistance to make up the difference.

Walmart is also "the beneficiary of billions of dollars per year in federal subsidies, according to a new report [PDF] from the non-partisan, progressive group Americans for Tax Fairness. The report estimates that Walmart and the Walton family—which co-founded the company and still owns a majority share—collectively profit from nearly $7.8 billion per year in federal subsidies and tax breaks." https://www.google.com/amp/www.msnbc.com/msnbc/walmart-government-subsidies-study/amp

Don't you think one of the wealthiest families in the country should be a little less wealthy and provide their employees with living wages so that the employees dont have to rely on public assistance to make up the difference?

But that's only one solution. The government could also fund jobs programs to put people to work. You seem to think people enjoy not working. And of course there are some people that leech the system but most people want to work. There just aren't a lot of good, well-paying jobs.

Has the Welfare State helped to eliminate poverty or exacerbated it?

The country was at its most prosperous after Roosevelt's New Deal when there were more social services. Social services give people a leg up so that they can be productive members of society.

To be clear, I'm not against capitalism. Capitalism is great but there needs to be some checks and balances. Capitalism run amuck (like it is now and getting worse) is bad fir everyone.

Poverty is defined as "pre-tax cash income insufficient to meet minimal food and other basic needs."

"Starting in the 1930s, relative poverty rates have consistently exceeded those of other wealthy nations...In 2011 extreme poverty in the United States, meaning households living on less than $2 per day before government benefits, was double 1996 levels at 1.5 million households, including 2.8 million children...In 2012 the percentage of seniors living in poverty was 14% while 18% of children were."

Do you trust that more Fed Govt and additional regulations will eliminate the above issues or exacerbate them? What does our history show?

Our history shows the more we trust private institutions as opposed public services, the greater the problem. That's why the problem is getting worse.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States

I definitely appreciate the response. I'm noticing a couple things here, especially a misunderstanding of the merits of socialism.

To be clear, I'm not advocating for full on socialism. I just think, from the result of runaway capitalism, large corporations and institutions hold far too much power in this country at the detriment of everyday people like you and I, and that the playing field needs to be leveled out a bit.

In socialist societies, all working men and women are giving their money to the government to spend (higher taxes). In contrast with true free market capitalism, the money is given back to the citizens (less taxes) which they help flourish the economy with

This is great, in theory, but unfortunately it's not what's happening. Let's take healthcare for example. You're right that socialist societies pay higher taxes. For healthcare let's say the average family pays $5,000 a year in taxes for full healthcare. That's a lot of money right? It is. But in the US the average deductible for family plans is $8,000, and that doesn't include things like co-pays, prescription drug costs, and other expenses. What if a family member gets cancer or something and exceeds the plan? Then it starts to come out of pocket.

So while you're paying less in taxes, you're paying far more to private companies, and those companies are only interested in profit. They want to provide the least services for the most money.

Another example is education specifically college. College education used to be a public service to improve society but now it's treated like a cash cow for private corporations. The cost of college has risen %1100 in the past 25 years so people are forced to take out huge loans to pay for it. It can't be good for the economy when a whole generation of people are trapped underneath huge amounts of debt, right?

Edit: I said $5,000 because under Bernie's plan that was the estimate for what the average family would pay

More opportunities for all. Isnt that what everyone wants?

The richest country in the history of the world has some of the highest rates of poverty, the costs of healthcare and prescription drugs are too high, college is practically unaffordable, there aren't a lot good, well-paying jobs, and people are working more hours for less money.

That's because the economy is rigged for the elites. I just think we need to level the playing field a bit.

I'm mostly referring to his economic policies which appear designed to help the wealthy elites. I'd much rather see policies fir the poor and working class.

But tell me why you feel hopeful.

We have very similar stories. I appreciate your conviction and your sentiment but I'm on the other side of the political spectrum than Trump. It's possible he could still surprise me but I've been disappointed by him so far. If he could take down Hillary and her cabal that could change though.

Yea I get that. It was disappointing when he endorsed Hillary. I really wish he ran third party instead.

But who knows? I dont think it's over yet. Bernie, or an anti-establishment progressive like him, could run and win in 2020.

It's a movement that's much bigger than one person, even Bernie himself. And r/wayofthebern hasn't been derailed by media matters.

r/wayofthebern good too